1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates to inorganic photo-voltaic cells and more particularly to inorganic photo-voltaic cells comprising metal chalcogenides.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Thin-film solar cells are capable of delivering power conversion efficiencies of around 20% and have excellent lifetimes. However, a major hurdle for commercialization has been the cost associated with device fabrication, particularly with vacuum-based deposition of the thin film itself. A solution-deposition technique has been reported which circumvents the need for this vacuum-based deposition. Instead, the method utilizes a liquid solution of simple precursors, which can be spread thinly on a wide variety of substrates and heated to produce a thin, high-quality inorganic film of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). This technique stands to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy conversion and has already been used to fabricate a solar cell with power conversion efficiency in excess of 10%. The solution-based method is industrially scalable, high-throughput, and much less costly than many alternatives. However, due to the nascent level of this technology, several challenges remain before commercialization of solution-based CIGS can take place. Therefore, there remains a need for improved solution processed inorganic photo-voltaic devices.